The Lobster Club Lunch

Post by Chiefeater Luke Soon

The Major Food group poached a venerable sushi chef from Tribeca and put his as captain of this operation called The Lobster Club in Midfown – Chef Tasuku Murakami. The Lobster Club is described as a “Japanese brasserie,” but the template has clearly been lifted from Asian fusion mega hits like Nobu and Tao, which are the equivalent of bankable, big-money action movies in the upper realms of restaurant land these days.

Peter Marino the accomplished architect has covered the floor in tiles decorated with a Jackson Pollock–inspired splatter design. The pink and green designer chairs in the bar area look like they’ve been heisted from the set of a vintage Bond film.

The bar is formidable – especially for Japanese whisky aficionados. Serving over 30 labels. The place is an architectural marvel, and you can imagine swanky Midtown diners coming for an after party tipple.

The Food

There are lobster-stuffed dumplings on the menu, and Nobu-esque helpings of crispy rock shrimp flecked with coconut. The house sushi rolls have names like “Scallop Dragon” and “Tuna Rossini,” and if the USD185 teppanyaki porterhouse isn’t enough steak for the table, you can order slabs of massaged, beer-fed Japanese beef “upon request.”

Our server dished out chillies and Asian spreads like ginger scallion (that you’d be familiar as a topping for Hainanese chicken rice! – together with chimichuri

There were sticky segments of tender, wok-fried lobster tail in our first wave of dishes.

The carpaccio was another fusion attempt with toasted rice – something Frank Gehry-ish about all the concoctions from Chef Murakami

The Madagascar prawns (huge!) were perfectly done – as are the seared/ grilled scallops. Simple ingredients that need to be fresh. The sauces and dips really gave these dishes a make your own twist – I stuck with the ginger scallion sauce throughout, while others did more of a surf and turf with ponzu mixes.

The clear winner for me was the branzino, an Italian fish dish. The European bass is mild, flaky, and slightly sweet. Branzino tastes remarkably similar to other types of sea bass and halibut. Typically, it’s served whole with lemons – you can imagine a perfect Mediterranean dish (like we had at Milos the other day). Grilled to perfection.. and perfect dip for me was the (wait for it..) Indonesian belachan!

We spoke in a few Malay words – and that got the Indonesian head server/ waitress’ attention. I have to say service was impeccable (even by US standards where >20% is customary. She started talking about her journey to the US since 2001 and marrying a local newyorker Caucasian and having a football team of 7+1 kids (she’s pregnant 6 mths with the 8th!)

The Bill

Total damage USD390 for 4 pax including tips

Business Hours
Monday to Friday
11:45 am to 02:00 pm
05:00 pm to 10:00 pm

Saturday
05:00 pm to 10:00 pm

Closed on Sunday